Code Geass R2 has gone far into the deep end. Episode 16 and 17.
What happened to my Code Geass? Every once of subtility, brilliance and flair has dissapeared!
I’ll be honest with you all, I really don’t know what’s happening with Code Geass, I really don’t. The plot has been massively clusterfucked. The show is on life support, living off the momentum and coherence of the first season.
None of the story elements introduced in the late second season have brought us anywhere. Everything is in an odd state of stress and panic. What’s the deal with the U.F.N. Lelouch created? No idea. What’s the deal with Kallen being imprisoned for three straight episodes? No idea. What’s the deal with the useless characters like Luciano and the Knight of Rounds in general? No idea. What’s the deal with Ohgi and Viletta? No idea. Why have Lelouch feel (falsely) betrayed by Suzaku just after playing the friendship angle? We’re back to square one and the only thing that changed is that Suzaku may try to help “save” Nunnally from Charles who is god knows where doing god knows what. What’s the deal with C.C. being some kind of slave now? I know, It’s because she intentionally shut out her memory now that she knew she could live a life worth living with Lelouch’s promise to make her smile… Wait what? I could go on and on, It’s all maddening!
I give up, I don’t wanna analyse it and come up with far-fetched hypotheses to make it all hold together anymore. It’s just too much to bear. Let’s just sit back and enjoy. I say we just let it not make any sense for a little while longer, hoping that the nonsense comes to a halt. It has 10 episodes before the end, they don’t have a lot of space to work with. (The author said that the story will be finished with this season)
I hope Code Geass slows down again, like it was in the first season. I also hope that Rolo won’t kill Nunnally in a homicidal rage of jealousy while securing her.
BTW, I didn’t cover episode 16 by its own because my jaw was still on floor by the time I watched episode 17, I had to build up my courage in order to present you this commentary on the trainwreck.
P.S. What’s that deal with Guilford and his geass order to make him mistake Lelouch for Cornelia? I can’t wrap my head around it. Not to mention they had to annotate the past in order to make it fit (iirc), that’s some bad storytelling right there.
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The “politically correct” thing to do would be to nod my head at your post, but I really don’t care about that, sorry. You will find others who are better disposed towards that kind of thing, I’m certain of it, so don’t worry.
First, Code Geass has never been that subtle, it’s always been over the top and prone to rushing things. Even in the first season. The sooner you accept that, the better.
Second, if you can get past the idea without stumbling, you may see you’re exaggerating on several of those counts. Even as messy and ridiculous as lot of it is, some things have been explained a bit, foreshadowed or at least aren’t any more “maddening” than what came before. It’s not a case of being “far-fetched”, but of at least trying. If you even want to, that is.
If not, then you’ll do just fine with your current position anyways. Just want you to know that not everyone agrees.
Maximilian, your comment is very welcome and I appreciate it. No need to apologize for it.
I do accept the first point, I’ve been denouncing the lack of subtlety and the mad pace for a while now. It’s part of the charm of Code Geass in a way but I can’t help but feel betrayed by how unrefined the last episodes have been.
On the second point, I did exaggerate it, portraying the correct nuance wasn’t my intention really. I was out caricaturing the situation in dramatic way.
On that note, put yourself in my shoes, could you really tie the story together without looking like a complete fool? I couldn’t so I just went on to make a caricature of the situation. I was analytic in my previous post for episode 15 but just couldn’t keep up this time.
Sigh…..I swore I wasn’t going to be doing this, but a chance trip out of boredome and here we are. Anyway, the only reason to stop by is to say that I could indeed tie the story together with a minimum of effort. Here you go:
1. Lelouch starts off after the black rebellion back at school with false memories and the belief that he has a brother. He goes to the Babel Tower on a gambling trip with said fake brother and ends up caught in a terrorist attack by C.C and the few remaining Black Knights members who are looking to rendevouz with him. She restores his memories with the Geass code and his assailant is killed.
2. Lelouch memories regained has to find a way out of the Babel Tower and escape a rampaging Rolo sent to kill him. He does this by bringing down the tower and creating a tunnel to the Chinese embassy, which also kills the Governor General Carares. From there he escapes back to school and has C.C give his message about the formation of the United States of Japan which contains just the people in that room. Not before Geassing Gaohai and enlisting the protection of the embassy though.
3. Before anything Lelouch tries to get to the bottom of the spying ring and leads them on a wild goose chase until he can find a way to get access to their headquarters and dispatch Rolo but is instead corned by him.
4. Lelouch manages to gain Rolo’s trust, thus ending the spying nuisance for the time being and moves on to rescue his Black Knights who are about to be executed. Now he has an army again and is free to act.
5. Lelouch’s army is ready to act, but he has a new problem. Suzaku and his Knight of Round friends have headed to Japan to investigate the recent reappearance of Zero and to determine whether it’s an imposter or Lelouch still. A part is thrown to celebrate Suzaku’s return and promotion and all the Ashford students catch up and we learn what happened to Nina and Karen’s outcast status. Suzaku plants a trap for Lelouch on the rooftop after the party in order to try and get him to admit he’s Zero.
6. Governor-General less since the demise of Carares in episode 2, Nunally volunteers for the job and it’s approved by Charles. On her way Lelouch organizes a quick slapped together plan to rescue her, but finds out about that she is doing things of her own free will. The plan failed Lelouch is ejected from the carrier and rescued by Karen.
7. Downtrodden and feeling he has failed, Lelouch wanders the streets of Japan, but can’t escape the reality of the situation that Nunally has rejected his Zero persona, the very one he created to ultimately save and protect her. About to give up and inject himself with Refrain he is confronted by Karen who tells him that he has people relying on him and to stop being so selfish. Realizing that Nunally has become strong enough to take care of herself and that it’s time to let her make her own choices, he decides to continue with his other goal, getting the bottom of what happened to his mother and bringing down the corrupt Britannian empire. He returns to rescue the Black Knights from the Knight of Rounds just in time.
8. With newfound resolve and a preliminary plan to achieve his short-term AND Long-term goals, Lelouch organizes an exodus of some 1 million supporters from Japan and makes the Zero persona a symbol of his new nation, which will be founded elsewhere.
9. Arriving in China and his United States of Japan having expanded from a single room of 10’s of individuals to a nation of over million, Lelouch runs into trouble. He is about to face a newly hostile neighbour as the Eunuch Generals have made a backroom deal with Schneizel of Britannia for entrance into the Britannian empire via a marriage of convenience between the Empress of China and 1st Prince of Oddysseus of Britannia. Options limited Lelouch devises a bold plan to kidnap the Empress and goad the Eunuch’s into admitting their treachery and plans to all of China, which ultimately works. This occuring at the same time as a Coup D’etat started by Li Xingke, the Empress’ most loyal subject results in popular support in the Chinese Federation shifting away from Britannia and the now dead Eunuch’s towards Li and the Black Knights. Lelouch has made his countries first ally and his army getting stronger and stronger AND he has secured passage to the Geass cult where he hopes to find answers.
10. After the tragic death of Shirley at the hands of Rolo, Lelouch becomes distraught and succumbs to desires for revenge again, but this time remains in control. He moves up his plans for destroying the Geass Cult and has his Black Knights conduct a systematic slaughter of all personnel at the location and with the help of the newly resurgent Cornelia is able to defeat V.V once and for all, but ends up being wisped away to the Sword of Akasha where Charles Di Britannia awaits him.
11. At the Sword of Akasha he learns the truth behind the Geass and his trusted lieutenant C.C’s origin. It is an immortal power that can only be gotten rid of by giving the gift of Geass to an individual and waiting for it to become strong enough so that the immortal power can be transferred via a Code to the new user. Hence the title of the series, “Code Geass”. C.C’s wish for Lelouch was to give him the Geass so he could fulfill his quest against Britannia and eventually for him to inherit her immortality. However Charles has gotten in the way and forcibly took V.V’s Code such that he succumbs to his wounds from the battle with Lelouch and he tries to take C.C’s as well. Apparently succeeding, C.C’s personality reverts to that of an uneducated and child-like slave girl with a 10th century worldview, but not before Lelouch damages the Sword of Akasha and ends up getting warped back to where he was in the Geass cult.
11. Leaving the scene of the slaughter, Lelouch returns to the Ikaruga to partake in the signing of an alliance between all the remaining countries of the world not aligned with Britannia. He has gone from a single individual, to a terrorist group, to a single room nation, to an island nation, to the United States of Japan, to a worldwide super power leader and has now amassed enough military might to take back Japan, which he sets his sights on. No sooner does he do this though before the Emperor returns and Nunally’s safety again becomes an issue as her territory is about to be turned into a warzone. Desperate to ensure her security Lelouch turns to Suzaku and agrees to meet him at his family shrine…alone.
Now I don’t know if I look like a complete fool (and I don’t think I did), but excuse me if I didn’t just make a solid effort at tying it all together.
Kaioshin Samas last blog post..The Top 20 Most Asskicking, Crotch Stomping Badass Lolis Around #3 (Part 2)
@Kaioshin Sama
You almost scared me there. I thought you had written all of that in the comment box
I was relieved when I saw that it was from one of your own posts (an excellent post btw)
There’s only one thing though, you brought together the central plot from the beginning of the season but that was the most intelligible part of the story.
A few things still irk me. Of which, what exactly happened at the Sword of Akasha? Also, the wealth of interrogations I brought up in my post are still mostly unresolved. My critique is mostly about what happened in the periphery of your 12th point and what happened after it.
Actually that was everything up until episode 16. I can’t do anything after that until that part of the story resolves. Though I will suggest that the answer to your dilemma is in it’s very nature. Essentially it doesn’t make sense to even try to summarize an arc in motion because it will never make sense until the end when you can tie it all together. Especially one as open-ended as this one is right now.
And thanks for the compliment by the way.
Kaioshin Samas last blog post..The Top 20 Most Asskicking, Crotch Stomping Badass Lolis Around #1
Bah, the wait and see approach is the one I’m taking.
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